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Buddhism FAQ23 Other-Religions
Buddhism FAQ0 >> 23.Relationship with Other Religions ---- Buddhism FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions About Buddhism) ---- 23. What is the Relationship of Buddhism with Other Religions? 'Ans :' 'Introduction' All beings are considered to be trapped in the cycle of rebirths https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebirth_(Buddhism) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnation which is not merely a theory but many many persons have known to remember their past lives especially children and internet is full of such examples and the phenomenon is evidenced by varying behavior of all different people who react as per their character generated by karma-sanskaras(actions of past leading to behavior). Every life ends in painful death. Buddhism is the path of spiritual awakening and of Moksha/Nirvana(Salvation from rebirths) which is considered the highest achievement in religions of south Asia. Everyday a Buddhist need to : 1. Go to refuge of Triratna(3 jewels) i.e. Buddha, who is Bhagwan(Lord), Dhamma(path & also the eternal natural law) & Sangha(order of monks). Also one needs to request all the devas(gods & godesses) for protection. 2. Take 5 moral vows(Sheel) of non-violence, celibacy, non stealing, not consuming intoxicants & of speaking truth. 3. Do meditation as taught by Buddha (Such as Vipassana & Samatha) and then achieve Samadhi(trance, zen, jhana/dhyan, rapture) leading to spiritual awakening , enlightenment & spiritual knowledge. ---- 'Relationship With Vedic Dharma(Hinduism)' Original name of Buddhism is Dharma or Dhamma meaning law of nature, which applies of all. After meditating in seclusion & upon enlightenment, Buddha found that focus on emotions related Vedana (वेदना samvedana or sensations in body) & remaining in equanimity(samata/non reaction) with these is the path of modifying and removing karma-samskaras कर्म संस्कार (habits/behavior) leading to their removal then attainment of a new states of life consciousness called samadhi(trance) then attaining supernatural state of Moksha/Nirvana. The word Vedana (वेदना) means sensation (implying knowledge from experience) is so much related to ancient knowledge that it is the soul of many words i.e. : Vid (विद) :Meaning knowledgeable person (vid from vedana). Vidya(विद्या')' : Meaning knowledge. Vidwan(विद्वान) : Meaning a scholar, a teacher, an expert, holding vidya(knowledge). Ved (वेद) : The ancient spiritual knowledge of rishis (probably gained through vedana/direct experience). Vidyarthi (विद्यार्थी): A student gaining knowledge. Buddha's path is the path of gaining knowledge through Vedana वेदना (direct experience) hence It is the core Vedic Dharma 'वैदिक धर्म / Vedic Religion. Also Lord Gautam Buddha is the 25th Buddha as stated by him. All previous Buddhas were great rishis of India, First Buddha Dipankara Various Other Previous Buddhas, Buddhavamsa Also, in one of his previous lives Buddha was the Lord Ram of Ramayana according to Dasaratha-Jātaka , Jataka 461. Prior to that he was charismatic Rishi Matanga according to the Mātaṅga-Jātaka, Jataka 497. Rishi Matanga was a Brahmrishi and the guru of Devi Anjana who gave birth to Hanuman deva, one of the most revered. What it means is that Lord Ram was reborn as Lord Buddha and then attained final moksha/nirvana , never to be reborn again. Also Lord Krishna was his elder brother according to Ghata-Jātaka2, Jataka 464, and as mentioned there, Krishna was later reborn as the Sariputra, the chief disciple of Lord Buddha and then attained final moksha/nirvana. Also in Buddhist texts it is seen that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv, Shakra(Indra the king of gods/angels) etc most gods were Buddha's disciples and consulted him often on the matters of Dhamma/Dharma. Indra king of gods/angels (known as Sakka/Shakra) consults Lord Buddha : Sakkapanha Sutta Shiv consults Lord Buddha : SN1-version2 in sutta 102 Brahma pleads with Lord Buddha to teach the path(Dhamma): Mahavogga 1.5 Vishnu consults Lord Buddha: SN1-version2 in sutta 93 ---- 'Relationship With Jainism Jains are referred as Niganthas in Buddhist Pali texts which is its original name (Sanskrit: Nirgranth). The teachings of Jains are almost similar to Buddhism except that they (Jains) are still awaiting the arrival of their Buddha (the awakened one) as they do not recognize Lord Siddharth Gautham Buddha as their Buddha. ---- 'Relationship With Abrahmic Religions' Buddhism does not practice killing & violence of any creatures because (since it is based on rebirth) any & every creature is related to one another (even animals could be one's blood relatives in past) hence is different than the Abrahmic religions in this regard. 'With Christianity' Life Of Jesus Christ is so similar to Lord Gautam Buddha except the ending, that Buddha survived many attacks on him. Jesus Christ , similar to Buddha , went into seclusion and did meditation for many days at the end of which he attained the knowledge of God(enlightenment) and rejected evil. Though he has not specifically mentioned rebirth theory but he has stated that (his teacher) John the Baptist was previously the Prophet Elijah. Many teachings of Jesus Christ on following the path of universal forgiveness,non-violence, celibacy etc. are very similar to Buddhism. Buddhism is known to have gone to middle-east and to Egypt. In Alexandria their existence is known(in 200BC) & of a similar sect called Theraputae which appears to be similar sounding Therawada sect of Buddhism. Relationship in detail can be read on Wikipedia here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism_and_Christianity also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barlaam_and_Josaphat Many teachings of Jesus Christ are known to exist previously in Buddhism such as the story of Prodigal Son : https://www.comparativereligion.com/prodigal.html, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Prodigal_Son 'With Judaism' It is also an ancient religion and many of its followers are attracted to Buddhism presently. 'With Islam' There is a mention of a word of Dimmi people in Arabic world which seems to indicate Dhammi or Dharmic. Buddhism was known by the word Dhamma/Dharma in past and its followers as Dharmic/Dhammi. The word 'but' (बुत, pronounced similar to 'Put') in islamic world seems to refer to Buddha which is actually pronounced as Buddh(बुद्ध). So, therefore the word 'But Parast' (बुत परस्त) meaning 'idol worshiper' seems to have origin with Buddh(बुद्ध) considering huge statues of Buddha existing in many places such as in Bamiyaan(in Afghanistan). Also in arabic world there is a mention of word djinn or jinn who can grant any wishes or does magic. Jinn is actually mentioned in Buddhism as a person with supreme accomplishment & having achievement of experiencing Arhat/Nirvana state similar to Buddha and so having also magical powers. It is well known that Buddhism had spread to Alexandria in North Egypt in 200BC(as per emperor Ashoka's rock eddicts & as per Philo) so the monks used to cross the Arabic lands. 'Conclusion' So we see Buddhism & ancient Indian religions are intertwined and in accordance(Gotama being the 25th Buddha and according to him, all previous Buddhas(Rishis) were born in Jambudvipa(South Asia) and in future also, as stated by Lord Buddha, all Enlightened Buddhas will be born here as a guiding light to the world. Therefore the people anti & pro of of the path should make peace & harmony for growth of all. We see that when this path (of supreme attainment i.e. moksha/nirvana) was glorified, his land, south asia(Jambudipa), prospered and when it was routed out, when labelled as atheism(nastik), the land was met with ill fate, disintegrated and became subjugated to foreigners for more than thousand years (probably as result of karma). This article is not meant to hurt any persons of any religion, if anyone is hurt by it then it is apologized in advance and any of its contents can be removed if requested. Buddhism invites and accepts all people of different faiths to follow morality and meditative practices so that everyone can get liberated.